BIOGRAPHY

Kevin Purcell (Conductor / Musical Director / Composer / Arranger)



KEVIN PURCELL returned to Australia in 2001 having
previous spent eight years working throughout the UK, Europe
and the USA as a musical director and conductor.
His conducting engagements in 2009 include performances with
The Dinu Lipatti Philharmonic in Romania, The Academic Philharmonic
of Kharkov in the Ukraine and with the Australian Chamber Ensemble.


In 1993, having achieved joint-first prize in the Bellhouse
Conducting Competition in Sydney and offered the Willem van
Otterloo Conducting Scholarship at Opera Australia, Kevin had
the opportunity to assist British conductor, Myer Fredman on
productions of Don Giovanni and Madama Butterfly. Before
moving to Sydney, Kevin accepted an offer to undertake
advanced conducting studies at the Moscow Conservatory with
Gennady Rozdhestvensky and Leonid Nikolaev. Other musical
direction distinctions have included an invitation to work with
Harold Farberman at The Conductor's Institute in 1996-97 and
Péter Erdei from the Kodály Institute (Hungary) and the Liszt
Academy (Budapest) for choral conducting studies.

Emigrating to the U.K. in 1994, Kevin came to the attention
of Sir Charles Mackerras who invited him to assist on
concerts with the London Philharmonic, Orchestra of the Age of
Enlightenment, Welsh National Opera, Covent Garden and the
BBC Philharmonic. Kevin was subsequently awarded the
prestigious Sir Charles Mackerras Award; conferred through
the Australian Music Foundation in London, with additional
funding for a further two-years study at the
Janackova Akademie Muzickych Umeni V Brne (JAMU)
in the Czech Republic to study conducting with the late
Otakar Trhlík. In 1996, again in London, Kevin was further
honoured with The Tait Memorial Trust Conductor's Award.

At the end of 1994; at the invitation of Ian Campbell, General
Director of the San Diego Opera, Kevin was engaged as
Assistant Conductor on a production of Dvorak’s operatic
masterpiece, Rusalka with Renée Fleming.
During this period Kevin also La Bohème (CZ), La Traviata (USA),
Carmen (UK) and Die Zauberflöte (USA).

In 1995, the American conductor, David Robertson,
invited Kevin to conduct Ensemble Intercontemporain at
the Paris Conservatory in works by Varèse and Boulez. During
this period Kevin also conducted the Silesian State Opera, Hradec
Králové Filharmonie, Beethoven Chamber Orchestra,
Königsgrätz Philharmonic, West Bohemia Symphony Orchestra
and the Georgian State Television and Radio Orchestra (Tblisi)
in a live broadcast performance of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony
No. 6 (Pathetiquéˆ).

In 1998 Kevin moved to the USA in to further his
conducting career. He was appointed Principal Conductor
of the Central Ohio Symphony Orchestra for a period of two years
between 1999-2000.

Between 1996-98 and again in 2003, he worked for The Really
Useful Group on several of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s productions
in London's west end; most notably as musical director for the
New London Theatre production of CATS, and musical
preparation for Andrew Lloyd Webber's 50th Birthday concert at
the London Palladium. During this period, Kevin also undertook the main orchestration responsibility for the prestigious Lady Taverner's’ Gala
(also at the Palladium) including performances by Sir Cliff Richard, Roy Hudd and
other luminaries of the British Stage. In 1998, he musically directed the
Chichester Festival production of Sweet Charity.

In March 2000, Kevin undertook the musical direction for the US
premiere of the highly acclaimed new Musical, Napoleon before
its transfer to London's west end. Kevin's musical direction for
West Virginia Public Theatre throughout 1999 met with unanimous
acclaim for its unsurpassed excellence.

Other activities have included the role of Assoc. Musical Director
and lead orchestrator for HATS-OFF; (Oz Showbiz Cares/Equity Fights
AIDS) charity concert in Melbourne in November 2005, and
supervising Stella Entertainment’s production of Jonathan Larson’s
RENT at The National Theatre.

In 2007, Kevin undertook the musical supervision and arrangements
for the eight-part television series, The Magic of Musicals, and conducted
the orchestra sessions for the new Australian film, The Line.

As a theatre composer, Kevin premiered Rebecca - The Musical;
based on Daphne du Maurier’s timeless novel, in June 2004
with book and lyrics by Victor Kazan. This work, regrettably, is currently
withdrawn due to international rights restriction. Kevin and Victor’s
new theatre project is an adaptation of The Mapmaker’s Opera by
Canadian author, Bea Gonzalez.

Previously, Kevin has undertaken two composition residencies (1994
and 1996) at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Canada. He was
chosen, in 1992 and 1995, as a composer for the Australian
Broadcasting Corporation’s ‘National Orchestra Composers School’.
His orchestral works; including the Symphony No. 1 (La Cathédrale
dans la brouillard), have been performed by the Melbourne
Symphony Orchestra (MSO) and The Queensland Orchestra.

His current commissions include a new Sonata for Violin
and Pianoforte, The Silent Well, for Canadian violinist, Jasper Wood
(2008 favourite classical artist - Canadian Independent Music Awards).
His music is available through the publishers: Publications by Wirripang.

In January 2009, he accepted an invitation to take up an appointment as
Professor of Music and Head of the Conservatorium of Music at the
University of Tasmania.

Kevin is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the
Australian Music Centre, is a member of the Music Theatre
Panel for the 'Green Room Awards' and is a writer full member of
Australasian Performing Rights Association (APRA) and The
Dramatists Guild of America, Inc.